The general election campaign gave quality daily newspapers a mini-boost in April, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation published today.

The Independent, the Guardian and the Times all posted small month-on-month circulation rises in April.

Year-on-year, however, the entire sector saw falls, with the Times, Telegraph and Guardian still suffering in comparison to figures for April 2009, which included large numbers of now-discarded bulks. The Guardian has also cut its overseas distribution by 16,000 copies since April last year.

The Independent relaunched on 20 April under its new owner Alexander Lebedev and undertook a major sampling exercise, giving away 300,000 copies of a cutdown version of the paper each day, to the eve of the election.

Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media, said: "April's news agenda was extremely strong in the run-up to the general election, and the depth and quality of our round-the-clock journalism has been recognised with a very welcome and richly deserved rise in newspaper sales across both the Guardian and the Observer. In particular, our coverage of the first two televised leaders' debates saw large increases in sales of the Guardian."

The Daily Telegraph

Headline circulation: 683,220

Month-on-month change: -0.50%

Year-on-year change: - 11.81%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 640,780 (94% of total)

Overseas: 41,644

The Times

Headline circulation: 506,997

Monthly: +0.91%

Yearly: -14.18%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 477,123 (94%)

Overseas: 29,874

The Financial Times

Headline circulation: 386,590

Monthly: -3.66%

Yearly: -8.19%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 77,981 (20%)

Overseas: 276,045

The Guardian

Headline circulation: 288,917

Monthly: +2.07%

Yearly: -15.83%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 267,511 (93%)

Overseas: 21,406

The Independent

Headline circulation: 188,119

Monthly: +2.16%

Yearly: -7.98%

UK and Ireland paid-for circulation: 102,903 (55%)

Overseas: 26,166

Headline circulation includes lesser rate sales, subscriptions, bulks – copies sold to airlines, rail companies, hotels and gyms for a nominal fee and given free to the public – and distribution in Ireland and overseas. UK and Ireland paid for circulation excludes bulks and overseas distribution

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